By: J.M.G. — 10/5/22
“And Hannah prayed and said: “… the LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave (Sheol) and brings up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up, He raises the poor from the dust and lifts and beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and makes them inherit the throne of glory…”
(1 Samuel 2:6-8 NKJV).
“Hannah’s prayer appeals to the ONE God who maintains order by keeping human affairs in balance,” wrote a Bible theologian. I suggest you read the entire prayer, v. 1-10. As for the way I see it, it spells out SOVEREIGNTY: “Supreme in power/authority, Chief, Highest, supremacy in power and rule, power to govern without external control.”
In Deuteronomy 32 we find the Song of Moses, 1- 43; Hannah said in 2:2, “No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides you, nor is there any rock like our God,” echoing Moses’ “Now see that I, even I am He, and there is NO God besides Me; I kill and make alive; I wound and heal; Nor is there any who can deliver form My hand… I live forever” (Deuteronomy 32:39, 40). [Note: reference to Deuteronomy 32:39 see Isaiah 41:4; 43:10; 45:5-7; 1 Samuel 2:6]. [Note: reference to 1 Samuel 2:6-8 see Deuteronomy 32:39; 8:17; Psalms 75:7; Luke 1:52; Job 36:7, 38:4-6].
Back to 1 Samuel 2:6-8:
Hannah’s admission places her among the faithful who trust that the LORD will execute justice on their behalf. Note her use of/reference to “His King” (v.10)… “His anointed” (v.10) in the New American Bible and the NKJV. These recall the final sentence of the Book of Judges and introduces the Kingship theme that dominates the Books of Samuel.
Psalm 46:8,9 speaks of God’s Sovereignty: “Come, behold the works of the LORD, who has made desolations in the earth. He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth…”
Daniel 4:25 mentions “the Most High ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom He chooses” [see 4:2, 17, 32 and Jeremiah 27:5; Psalms 115:3; 47:8]. Psalms 47:7 states “For God is the king of all the earth…” [see Zechariah 14:9; Revelations 11:15]. Psalms 135 says “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in Heaven and in earth, in the seas… He makes lightning… brings the wind…” (v. 6, 7). We hear all this prattle about “climate change,” well, have we ever considered that all these destructive things might be the LORD doing them? [See all my articles on the “Sovereignty of God”].
Let us never forget that “God IS (present tense) the king of ALL the earth;… He reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne” (Psalms 47:7, 8).
There is not more a testimony (truth) about the “Sovereignty of God” than found in Revelation:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last” (Revelations1:11). Just before Christ Himself said this, He said, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End… who is and was and who is to come, the Almighty” (v.8). Have we any testimony (truth) from any human that has or is claiming this?
Alpha/Omega = the first/last of the Greek alphabet (see 22:13).
John records the SOG in 1:17, “I am the First and Last;” “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold I am alive forever more. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and Death” (v.18). No one can claim any of this! Amen and Amen! Jesus spoke of the Netherworld: “Hades”/Greek, “Sheol”/Hebrew = the abode of the dead. Sheol can be seen as the grave for the physical body or the grave for the soul: see Revelation 20:13, 14; Numbers 16:33, the NAB reads! “The One who live once was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I hold the keys to death and the netherworld,” (John1:18). Chapter 3 has “These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens,” (John3:7). What does that mean to you?
The principle of opens/shuts/ — shuts/opens goes beyond the Philadelphia Ekklesia; it declares God’s Sovereignty.
Jesus’ “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last,” in Revelations 22:13 goes all the way back to Isaiah’s declaration of, “… I, the LORD, am the first; and with the last I am He” (Isaiah 41:4). Isaiah did not stop there, he wrote: “… understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even, I am the LORD, and besides Me there is no Savior… I am God. Indeed before the day was, I am HE…” (Isaiah 43:10-130). Hosea the prophet also stated, “For there is no Savior besides Me” (Hosea 13:4). Isaiah 45:5-7 says, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me… I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity (evil); I the LORD, do all these things; For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like ME declaring the END from the BEGINNING… and I will do all My pleasure… (Isaiah 46:9, 10).